Her heart leaped as if it would bust out. “Not today, Satan.
You picked the wrong woman, little boy.” She pounded on the glass again.
“Stop hitting my window,” he shouted.
“No, I won’t stop until you come out of your car and talk grown-up to grown-up. I promise you; this will be the last time you raise those fingers at me.”
Olivia grabbed the handle of his car and yanked to open the door. The man’s face widened with shock. He scrambled to close the door and lock it.
“You’re crazy,” he yelled.
“You’ve got that right.” Spittle flew from her lips when she shouted. “I’m crazy and I’m having a bad day. If you don’t move, you’ll be a part of the revenge on anyone who gets in my way. Do you really want to mess with me today? Hunh?”
The young man’s face registered the seriousness of Olivia standing above his car with a menacing look of insanity. His engine roared to life, he yelled a few obscenities at her and sped off through the neighborhood, almost running into the other parked vehicles.
Olivia’s hands shook as he turned the corner. She glanced around at the houses, thankful to not see anyone. As a new resident in the neighborhood, she wanted to keep a low profile after having her life out in the public.
After getting into the car and raising the window, Olivia composed herself enough to drive the remaining blocks home. She had a lot of work to do on herself to survive the onslaught of obstacles. The mandatory counseling appointment with her therapist, Dr. Fluellen, would have to be changed from later in the week. She needed therapy today.
SIX
Olivia
Angel wings must have been the carrying vessel for Olivia to arrive home without another incident. She didn’t remember making the turns to get to her house. Rage clouded her brain and blurred thinking with clarity.
She’d laid on the sofa in the living room to try and recover from a throbbing headache. The migraine ice pack numbed her mind and pain.
The cellphone buzzed on the table, emerging her from grogginess.
“Hello,” she croaked.
“Olivia? This is Dr. Arnelya Hennings.”
“Hi, Arnelya. How are you doing?” Olivia replied with an attempt to be alert.
The two of them had attended medical school together. Olivia selected her as Simone and Christian’s therapist due to her specialty in Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and her reputation in the San Antonio community.
“I’m fine and I hope you are as well. Do you have a moment to talk?”
“Yes, I do. I apologize if I sound tired. My head is killing me from meeting with Malcolm this morning,” Olivia groaned.
“I have time before my appointment with Dr. Fluellen in an hour. What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry you aren’t well.” Dr. Hennings paused. “Malcolm brought the kids in for their counseling session yesterday. I have concerns about Simone. She expressed a few things which raised my radar. I explained my observation to Malcolm and he said he would relay it to you. Has he talked with you yet?”
“No, he didn’t mention anything about their session the entire time we were together at breakfast. I can’t believe he kept this information from me. What happened with Simone?” Olivia raised into a sitting position and removed the icepack from her head. She rubbed her temples in nervous anticipation of what Arnelya had to share.
Arnelya sighed. “Olivia, what I have to tell you isn’t going to be easy for you to swallow. As your colleague and friend, I know you want me to be direct and not hold back.”
“I’m listening.”
“Simone is furious with you to the point of hatred. She expressed you ruined her life by setting the house on fire.”
“I know she’s angry with me.” Olivia drew in a shaky breath. “I didn’t realize she hates me. Okay, please continue.”
“She said she lost all of her friends due to the fact their parents won’t let them be around her. Both she and Christian mentioned their classmates refer to you as ‘psycho mom’ and make jokes about setting homes on fire.”
“I’ve heard the same information as well from Christian.”
Olivia gritted her teeth. “Maybe I need to call those parents and give them a piece of my mind. How dare they ostracize my kids.”
“Olivia. I’m not telling you this to have you seek revenge against the parents or their children. We need to focus on what Simone is experiencing based on her perception. Her anger may expand into something serious based on what she shared. Shall I continue?”
Olivia’s chest tightened. She began massaging near her heart. “Yes. I’m sorry.”
“Simone is angry about losing everything she loved in the fire. She loathes living in the apartment where Malcolm relocated. Most important is she resents having you as her mom. She thinks you tried to kill all of them and lied about Malcolm cheating on you. Simone wishes you had died in the fire.”
Olivia reeled from the shock of Arnelya’s words and stammered, “Sh-she wants me to be dead?”
“It appears she sees you as the enemy. I didn’t sense she said it in a threatening kind of way. Simone’s expression is more about her thinking it’s you against all of them.”
“Arnelya, we’ve been through group counseling sessions where everything has been explained to the kids about my case in detail. Why is this coming up now? What changed?” Tears sprang from Olivia’s eyes and slid along her cheeks.
“I know you weren’t expecting this from Simone. She’s in a lot of pain.”
“I’m aware of her anger toward me based on the fact she won’t engage in conversation. What elevated her anger to hatred and a desire for me to be dead?” Olivia hiccupped and attempted to speak through her anguish. “She’s my little girl. I don’t know what to do.”
“You know the same as I do about how counseling sessions are a part of the process. We are getting somewhere. I
